Ted Mondale wants to help the Minnesota Vikings get a new stadium, but first he must make sure they can play their final season in the Metrodome.

Sworn in Thursday as chairman of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which owns and operates the Metrodome, Mondale was immediately faced with the possibility of replacing the entire roof, which collapsed in the Dec. 11-12 blizzard.

"We expect an answer in the next two weeks," he said. "If it needs to be replaced, it will cost $15 million and take six months. That's the worst-case scenario."

That would push dangerously close to NFL preseason games, which typically begin the second week of August. Engineering firm Walter P Moore of Houston is analyzing the roof to determine the extent of the damage.

The Vikings and NFL, briefed on the situation Thursday, have hired Severud Associates of New York to independently analyze the data. Team vice president of public affairs/stadium development Lester Bagley said the Vikings would not comment on the situation "until the assessment is completed."

The Vikings' Metrodome lease expires at the end of next season, which would leave the team, theoretically, homeless and bringing to a head the team's contention that it cannot survive in Minnesota without a new stadium.

Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Mondale not only to head the MSFC, but also to spearhead state efforts to pass a stadium bill, a thorny issue in any climate, but especially now as the state stares down a $6.2 billion budget shortfall.

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After being sworn in Thursday by predecessor Roy Terwilliger, Mondale vowed, "This the year we do it."

That's a 180-degree turn from the approach of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who largely washed his hands of the issue.

First, however, Mondale and the commission face the issue of fixing the Metrodome roof so the Vikings can play what they contend will be their final season there. The Dome's last major tenant — the University of Minnesota football team left after the 2008 season, and the Twins after the 2009 season — the Vikings are closing out a 30-year lease signed when the Dome was completed in 1982.

The Metrodome roof is composed of 106 Teflon-coated fiberglass panels, inflated by 20 high-powered electric fans. Three ruptured under 17 inches of snow and high winds the weekend of Dec. 11-12, bringing down the roof. A fourth later ruptured on its own.

A shotgun took down the fifth panel to mitigate further damage.

The Metrodome roof had a lifetime projected at a minimum of 20 years, MFSC president Bill Lester said Thursday.

"Over the years, up to and including last summer, we go through testing on the roof," Lester said. "Last summer, the roof exceeded the original specifications from when it was built, even after 28 years."

Asked if the commission wondered whether the roof should have been replaced earlier, he said, "No. It was an act of God, 17 inches of snow and high winds."

Mondale said the determining factor will be fan safety.

"The NFL cannot bring 60,000 people into an arena with the threat of death and mayhem," he said. "The roof cannot come down during a game. So the interest of the commission and NFL and Vikings are all aligned — public safety has to be the top priority."

The roof collapse, of course, has played into the hands of the team trying to get a new venue built. The collapse forced the Vikings to move two home games this season, one to Detroit and one to the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium — further proof, they said, that they need a new place to play.

The team has questioned the need for a roof, calling it a luxury for fans, but that is seen largely as a bid by the Vikings to put up less of their own money. Owner Zygi Wilf has committed to paying one-third of a roofless stadium, something the team contended, in fall 2009, could be done for about $650 million.

But key legislators on both sides of the aisle, including the likely Republican sponsor of a stadium bill, Sen. Julie Rosen of Fairmont, have said a roof is needed and likely to be part of any deal. The MSFC wants a roof, as well.

"It's our stated policy that the Vikings allow you to have a facility," Lester said, "and that once you have that facility, our response is that you must maximize its return by playing host to the broadest range of activities possible."

At its height, Lester said, the Metrodome was in use 300 days of the year for events as small as birthday parties, and recently reopened to runners, inline skaters and for local public-safety departments to use for training. It has been host to a Super Bowl, World Series and NCAA Final Four.

Among events already moved because of the roof collapse: TwinsFest, the Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo and several University of Minnesota baseball games.

Mondale and the commission are optimistic that list won't end up including any Vikings games, so if the roof, indeed, must be replaced, replacement needs to start soon.

"There needs to be a decision, and an agreement with the insurance company, rather quickly," he said. "Should the answer be to replace the whole roof, the estimate is five to six months. That means it needs to start in February if it's to be ready in August."